Campli ( Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Teramo The province of Teramo (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a provinces of Italy, province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into ...

, in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is located in the natural park known as the

Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park is a natural park in central Italy. Established in 1991, it covers an area of , mostly within the provinces of Teramo, L'Aquila, and Pescara in Abruzzo, with small areas in the provinces of Rieti ...

. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Geography

The towns of Bellante,

Civitella del Tronto Civitella del Tronto () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, within the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful village ...

Sant'Omero Sant'Omero ( Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of eastern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It co ...

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

Torricella Sicura Torricella Sicura is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park". Geography The town is located about fro ...

Valle Castellana Valle Castellana (Marchigiano dialect, Ascolano: ') is a village and ''comune'' in the Province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is a member of the Italian community of surrounding mountain villages, Monti della Laga. It is lo ...

are nearby.

History

During the 14th century, the composer

Nicolaus Ricii de Nucella Campli Nicolaus Savini Mathei alias Ricci de Nucella Campli, (fl. 1401–1425; d. 1438 or after), also Niccolò Ricci and Nucella, was an Italian composer, singer, and scribe of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Only a single work by N ...

was born presumably in or near the town. The French captured the town under François de Guise in 1557 during his failed campaign against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

Festivals and events

Every year since 1964 in the month of August, there is a celebration that goes by the name of ''Sagra della porchetta italica'' (Feast of Italian Pork). It is considered to be the first such event established in the Region of

and one of the earliest organized in all of Italy. One highlight of this festival is a pork sandwich cookoff. The festival was founded by Fernando Aurini who was seeking to attract tourists and disseminate information about the town which once comprised a portion of the holdings of the powerful Farnese family. A practical tourist guide entitled "Campli" was published each year to celebrate this event. The ''Sagra della porchetta italica'' was an immediate success with crowds of up to 10,000 people attending in the mid 1960s.

Main sights

* Museo Nazionale Archeologico (National Archeological Museum) - housed in the ancient 14th century Farnese palace * San Pietro (Church of Saint Peter): its walls contain

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

and

High Medieval The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

stone fragments *La Scala Santa (The Sacred Step), formed by 28 wooden steps which, if climbed on ones knees, bring absolution of sins by decree of

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV (; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois (; or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; ), was bishop of Le Puy (1257–1260), archbishop of Narbonne (1259–1261), cardinal of Sabina ( ...

- Located behind Palazzo Farnese, next to the fourteenth-century Church of San Paolo, the Sanctuary of the Holy Staircase attracts thousands of devotees every year. The Sanctuary houses a Holy Staircase which in 1772 Pope Clement XIV granted the same indulgences of the famous Holy Staircase of Rome. Pope John Paul II extended the benefits granted in the 18th century to all Fridays of Lent. From a beautiful sixteenth-century portal worked with diamond points and coming from the convent of Sant'Onofrio, you enter the interior, where a staircase of twenty-eight steps of polished wood and smooth begins the ascent of the penitent, religiously kneeling. The staircase is completely surrounded by frescoes with motifs related to the Passion of Christ: while the ceiling is populated by images of angels carrying the symbols of the Passion, it is possible to admire on the right "Christ in the Garden of Olives", "The Flagellation" and "Christ Carrying the Cross" and on the left "The Capture", "Ecce homo", and the "Crucifixion". Some of them and the whole decoration of the ceiling are attributed to the painter from Teramo Vincenzo Baldati (1759 - 1825).

References

External links

Official websiteSecret World Travel Guides
Borghi più belli d'Italia {{Abruzzo-geo-stub